Recommended Cookbooks

Various cooking and baking utensils on shelf and hanging from rail. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 10 Feb 2016.

If you've read this blog before, you know we are unabashed foodies who love to read about food! But there are so many new cookbooks out there, it can be difficult to winnow out which ones are going to get used until they are stained and falling apart and which ones are pretty to look at or might give us ideas but which, let's face it, are not really up our alley, for whatever reason. The library is a great resource for trying out cookbooks to see if they suit your cooking style and interests, but it's still nice to get recommendations, right? So, we went to the experts - foodie sites like Epicurious, Saveur, the Food Network, and Eater, among other sources - and worked our way through their best-of lists to compile a listing of recommended cookbooks you can find in our library catalog.

We found their lists to be heavy on classics, with some emphasis on global cuisine, but not much for more specialized diets - such as for vegetarians, or for cooking in a slow cooker, for instance. (There were also multiple cookbooks by Nigella Lawson and Yotam Ottolenghi mentioned, but we chose to only list one for each chef.) If you have suggestions for this list or would like to see future recommendations for culinary areas not covered, let us know in the comments!

Epicurious' Cookbooks Everyone Should Own 

Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker

Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume 1 by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone Beck

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis

Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes From London's Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi 

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan 

Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan 

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers

Rick Bayless Mexico: One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless, with Jeanmarie Brownson and Deann Groen Bayless

Food Network: Chefs' Favorite Cookbooks

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes From Around the World by Sandor Ellix Katz

Molto Batali: Simple Family Meals From My Home to Yours by Mario Batali

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn  

Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters and the cooks of Chez Panisse 

Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand by Andy Ricker with J.J. Goode

The Silver Spoon

Larousse Gastronomique with the assistance of the Gastronomic Committee

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime - Comfort Classics, Freezer Food, 16-Minute Meals, and Other Delicious Ways to Solve Supper by Ree Drummond

 

Chosen by experts

Nigella Kitchen: Recipes From the Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson

Jane Grigson's Fruit Book illustrated by Yvonne Skargon

The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson

Roast Chicken and Other Stories: A Recipe Book by Simon Hopkinson

The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden

Best of 2015

The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook by Danny Bowien and Chris Ying

The Broad Fork: Recipes For the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruits by Hugh Acheson

Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook

Tacopedia by Déborah Holtz, Juan Carlos Mena  

Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture by Matt Goulding 

Rose Water & Orange Blossoms: Fresh and Classic Recipes From My Lebanese Kitchen by Maureen Abood 

Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes From the Source to the Bowl by Pierre Thiam  

The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt 

Tacos: Recipes and Provocations by Alex Stupak and Jordana Rothman 

Root to Leaf: A Southern Chef Cooks Through the Seasons by Steven Satterfield

The New Sugar & Spice: A Recipe for Bolder Baking by Samantha Seneviratne

My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl

V is For Vegetables: Inspired Recipes & Techniques For Home Cooks From Artichokes to Zucchini by Michael Anthony with Dorothy Kalins

Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay

Gjelina: Cooking From Venice, California by Travis Lett  

Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes by Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach

 

Honorable mentions

We didn't have the recommended cookbooks by these authors in our catalog, but we have others!  Try cookbooks by these famous names: James Beard, Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa), Nigel Slater, Anissa Helou, Elizabeth David, Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers of the River Cafe, Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall of the River Cottage, Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal,Thomas Keller, Christopher Kimball, Jacques Pépin, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Francis Mallmann, Diana Kennedy, and Madhur Jaffrey. 

Links

The Cookbooks We Fell For in 2015 [Saveur]

Introducing the 2015 Epicurious Cookbook Canon [Epicurious]

The 21 Best Cookbooks of 2015 [Epicurious]

50 Chefs' Favorite Cookbooks [Food Network]

What's the Best Cookbook of All Time? The Answer May Surprise You [L.A. Times]

25 Greatest Cookbooks of All Time [Telegraph]

The best cookbooks of all time, as chosen by the experts [Guardian]

The Best Cookbooks of 2015 [Eater]